And the Walls Come Tumbling Down
by charli911
Summary: Marco and Chet are caught when an explosion traps them. Can Roy and Johnny find and rescue them before more explosions threaten to bring the entire building down on them all? Originally archived at Two Chickies.


_**Walls Come Tumbling Down **_

Disclaimer: Emergency!" and its characters belong to © Mark VII Productions, Inc. All rights

reserved. No infringement of any copyrights or trademarks is intended or should

be inferred. This is a work of fiction, and any similarity to actual persons or

events is purely coincidental.

Originally archived at Two Chickies

/

Chet Kelly felt Marco Lopez tug on his sleeve and he turned around to look

at him.

"Face it, Chet. We're lost." Marco's voice was muffled behind his mask.

Chet looked up and down the hallway. Each door had been chalked, meaning they had already checked it. This place was like a labyrinth. They seemed to be going in circles. He hated doing sweeps looking for victims. He didn't know how Gage and DeSoto did this all the time.

The paramedics were one floor above, doing the same thing in the basement. Chet and Marco had drawn the sub-basement to check out. He'd rather be upstairs with the other three companies that were battling the inferno. At least then he could follow the hose back outside if he had to.

But not all the scientists were accounted for outside so someone had to look for them. The people that worked in these labs must have had some kind of code to find their way around. Every hall and every door were identical to every other one as near as he could tell. "I think we checked them all. All we got to do is get back to the stairway and go back up," he told Marco.

"So where's the stairway?" There was a touch of panic in Marco's voice. They both knew that the alarms in their regulators were due to go off at any second, then they would have only minutes of breathable air left. The fire upstairs had filled the whole place with any number of lethal toxins.

"It's got to be around here someplace. We didn't mark it. Just look for the door with no chalk on it."

"Why didn't I think of that?" Marco asked sarcastically. It was what he had been doing for the last ten minutes.

Before Chet could make a snappy comeback, there was a distinctive rumble overhead. They both knew what it was. There was no time to even run. They both moved against the wall and crouched down, covering their heads with their arms. They each wanted to be as small a target as possible since the entire ceiling was caving in!

Chunks of debris rained down on them, bouncing off the walls and crashing to the floor. Chet felt something heavy hit him, causing a sharp pain to shoot up his arm. Then he felt other pieces of rubble strike him on the right ankle. He cried out in pain when the chunk hit the ankle, knowing right away that it was broken.

Marco Lopez wasn't faring any better. His helmet had been knocked off when the first bricks came tumbling down on top of them. The light fixture directly over his head starting sparking, then flickered out. Then the rest of the lights in the hallway went out, leaving them in total darkness.

As the last of the debris dropped to the floor, the dust it produced began to fill the corridor. Chet managed to find his flashlight and flicked it on, only to see a solid wall of dust.

"Marco, can you hear me?" Kelly called out. He began to move, planning on looking for Lopez, but as he put his injured arm down to push himself off the floor, it gave out under his weight. _Damn it! That hurts!_

As he leaned back waiting for the pain to diminish, he shined the flashlight around, trying to see how bad his situation was. The entire ceiling above them had collapsed. He glanced down the hall in the direction where Marco had been standing and saw nothing but piles of bricks, wood and concrete from the floor and walls above them.

_Oh, God! Johnny and Roy had been up there!_ He prayed that they had been further down the hallway, and hadn't fallen when they floor below them gave way.

The alarm on his regulator started sounding. _Just what I need_, he thought. _I'm hurt, I can't find Marco, and now I'm gonna have to start breathing in all this dust, and who knows what else!_

He turned off the air supply, wanting to save what little air was still in his tank, and pulled off his face mask. Then he reached down again with his good arm and pushed himself from the floor, trying to keep all his weight on his left foot.

He shined the light down the hall, calling out for Marco, hoping to see some movement under the rubble. He could still hear some of the debris settling and creaking. _Please, God,don't let it collapse any more than it already has._

Suddenly, he heard an alarm ringing. Marco's regulator was sounding the alert. If he could just follow the sound, he would find Marco. Kelly tried to walk, but found he could move easier if he sat down and dragged himself across the debris. He could hear the ringing get louder and knew he was getting close.

There! Under that large piece of wood! Kelly crawled closer and found Lopez. He was buried under a pile of bricks, his upper body partially protected by a door that had come tumbling down from the upper floor.

Chet reached over and checked Marco's pulse. _Thank God_! he thought when he found a strong but rapid pulse. Marco's eyes were closed behind his air mask and Chet could see blood flowing from a cut on his head.

Knowing that Marco's air tank was almost empty anyway, Kelly debated removing it, but decided to keep the air mask in place, so that Marco wouldn't breath in all this dust. The mask wouldn't help forever, but at least it would keep some of the dust and bad air out, for now. Kelly called out, to see if anyone would hear him. But all he heard was the echo of his own voice.

Knowing that Marco had been carrying the handheld radio, he began to look around his friend's prone body, hoping to find it. But when he did, he knew it would do them no good. He pulled the smashed remnants of the radio out of the debris, and tried it just in case it was still operable, but couldn't even get static out of it. Tossing it aside, he looked around him, searching for a way out. He spotted a door just down the hall. A door with no chalk marks. The door to the stairs. They had finally found the door. But it would do them no good right now, since a large pile of debris sat right in front of it. He cursed. And prayed that someone would find them soon.

/

On the floor above them, Roy DeSoto and John Gage had heard the rumble, and been knocked off their feet when the building collapsed. They looked back to see the floor where they had been standing just moments before was gone.

They exchanged looks of horror, both knowing that Chet and Marco were down there. They hurried over toward the edge, careful not to get too close. They couldn't help Kelly and Lopez if they fell and injured themselves.

"Marco! Chet!" Johnny yelled. "Are you okay? Kelly! Lopez! Answer me!"

Getting no response, Gage and Roy began looking for a way down to the lower level, but couldn't see one.

Johnny placed a hand on Roy's shoulder. "I'm gonna go out and get some ropes. Keep calling for them, and I'll be right back."

As he turned to go, Roy called out to him. "Johnny, bring back some fresh air tanks. They came in before we did, and we only have about 5 minutes left. They'll be out of air even sooner."

Johnny nodded and turned to go again. Roy reached into the pocket of his turnout coat and pulled out the portable radio.

"HT 51 to Engine 51."

"Engine 51, go ahead Roy," he heard Captain Hank Stanley's voice "We heard a crash, what happened?"

"The floor gave way on the basement level, collapsed into the sub-basement. Cap, have you had contact with Kelly or Lopez? They were in the lower level."

"No, not for the last 10 minutes. What do you need in there, Roy?"

"Johnny's on his way out now to get some rope and full air tanks. We may have to climb down from here. I'm going to check for another set of steps leading down and see if I can find them that way."

"Okay, DeSoto, but be careful, and stay in touch. The fire is still going strong up here and that building is really unstable."

"Right, Cap."

He knew that one set of stairs had been in the middle of the hallway that had collapsed, but hoped to find other stairs back the other way down the hall. He knew that the pair would be out of air soon, and with all the possible toxins in the air, time was short. Slowly, he made his way through the smoke. A hundred feet down the hall, he found another door to a second stairway. He radioed Captain Stanley and told him where he was, and that he would be heading down to try and locate the others.

"Okay, Roy. Johnny is on his way back in with a couple of other men. He has another portable radio, so keep in touch with each other."

"Right, Cap."

DeSoto made it to the bottom of the steps. He wanted to be sure that it was safe to enter the hallway, so he slowly pushed open the door to darkness. He turned on his flashlight and looked up and down the hall. It appeared clear, at least as far as he could see through the smoke and dust. So he headed into the hallway and started walking toward the area of the collapse. He called out to Chet and Marco as he went. He could still hear some falling debris, so he moved carefully.

"Chet? Marco? Can you hear me?" he kept calling.

Finally he heard a faint voice. "Help! Over here!"

"Chet? Is that you?"

"Roy? Roy, hurry up. Marco's hurt."

Hearing Kelly's voice spurred DeSoto on. As he got closer, he realized just how much debris had fallen. "Chet, where are you?"

"Over here, Roy," Kelly called, waving his good arm, so DeSoto could see him. Roy walked over to the pile of debris, working his way through and over the rubble. He could see Chet, sitting on the floor, Marco stretched out next to him.

"Are you okay, Chet?"

"I'm fine, but Marco's hurt. Roy, he's unconscious. And his alarm went off a few minutes ago."

"Take it easy, Chet. Johnny is bringing fresh tanks and equipment to get you out." During the conversation, Roy set down his flashlight to shine on Marco, and began checking his condition. Then he turned to look at Chet, noticed he was favoring his right arm. DeSoto pulled out the portable radio, and updated Captain Stanley, then contacted Johnny.

"Roy, we're back at the collapse site. How'd you get down there? Can we get them out the same way?"

"I found a flight of stairs further down the hall behind you. It's clear all the way down. I'm gonna need stokes for both of them, a backboard for Marco, and leg and arm splints for Chet. And the oxygen, Johnny. Both of them are almost out of air."

"Harrison and I are coming down with the air tanks and I'll send Wilson back out for the rest of the gear. Hang on Roy, we're on our way."

When DeSoto looked back at Chet, he seemed to be falling asleep.

"Chet! C'mon on, Chet, stay with me!" he called. But Kelly was closing his eyes._ Damn!_ The smoke and fumes must be getting to him. Roy placed the mask back on Chet's face, and turned the air flow back on. Hopefully, that would be enough until Johnny got down there with the full tanks. He checked vitals on both men again.

He heard a noise and looked up to see Gage and Larry Harrison coming toward him, carrying the air tanks.

"Chet, we're gonna get you out of here now, okay? Chet, can you hear me?" DeSoto leaned over Kelly and found him to be unconscious. _Don't do this to me Chet_, he thought. _Hang on, buddy. _He then turned back and checked on Lopez's breathing.

Harrison set down the extra tanks, and headed back to the stairs to help Mark Wilson bring down the other equipment. Gage knelt down next to Roy and began checking Kelly. At that moment, the building started rumbling again. They both looked up, afraid the building was going to drop more debris on them.

Exchanging glances, neither spoke, each knowing what the other was thinking. It was time to move their friends out, before they _all _became trapped.

They began to remove the rubble from on top of Marco. As they moved the bricks from his legs, they could see that his left leg was twisted at an odd angle. Johnny and Roy changed out the air tanks, giving the unconscious firefighters fresh oxygen to breath. Then Roy's tank alarm started sounding as well, indicating he had less than three minutes of oxygen left.

"HT 51, Engine 51," they heard Stanley call.

"Engine 51, go ahead," John replied.

"Gage, how much longer? We can't get a handle on the fire, and it's coming your way. Chief just called in a second alarm."

"As soon as Wilson and Harrison get back with the stokes, we'll get them out. We've been hearing some more rumbling down here and I'm afraid it might collapse again, so we're just gonna get them immobiled then bundle 'em up and bring them out. We'll do a complete check when we get up top."

"10-4, HT 51."

Harrison and Wilson hurried over with the equipment. They set the stokes baskets down and Wilson handed Gage the splints for Chet's injuries. Harrison and Roy got Marco's leg immobilized and with the help of the others, placed him on the backboard. Then Gage finished up with Chet.

Kelly started to regain consciousness as Johnny splinted his arm. He started flailing around, oblivious to the pain of his injured limb. Gage began talking to him, trying to calm him down.

"Chet, take it easy," John told him. "We're going to get you out, but you have to relax. Let me get this splint on you." He continued to talk to his friend, hoping to get through to him. Kelly tried to get up, pushing Johnny away. But Gage and Wilson were able to get him to lay back down. "Relax, Chet, it's Johnny. Everything's okay. Take it easy."

"Gage? Gage, find Marco...gotta find Marco," Chet said. "Marco's hurt."

"It's okay, Chet. We've got Marco. We're taking you both out of here."

"Got Marco?" he asked, weakly. "Marco's hurt, Johnny. Help him."

"I know, Chet. Don't worry, Roy's taking care of him." Gage looked over to see that Roy and Harrison had Marco strapped into the stokes and were getting ready to carry him out.

Gage finished placing the splint on Kelly's arm. Then he and Wilson got Kelly into the second stokes. Gage checked on Roy again, and saw that he and Harrison were headed toward the stairwell with Marco. As Johnny tightened the straps, the rumbling started again.

"Let's get out of here!" he called to Wilson. They picked up Kelly and carefully made their way over the debris pile. The were almost at the door to the stairs when more of the ceiling came crashing down.

They fell to the floor, Gage throwing his body over a helpless Chet Kelly. Large pieces slammed to the floor around them. As Johnny looked up, he saw Wilson trying to get back to his feet, only to be knocked back down when a softball-size piece of concrete bounced off his helmet.

"Mark!" he called, concerned that Wilson was seriously injured.

Wilson lay, unmoving, a few feet away.

"Johnny, are you guys alright?" Desoto was calling over the portable. He and Harrison had made it to the top of the staircase, and heard the noises from below them.

Gage reached into his pocket for his radio as more and more of the ceiling came down. "Roy, Wilson's down and unconscious!" Roy could hear crashing over the radio, as the ceiling continued to fall. "I'm gonna need some help getting them both..ugh.."

"Johnny?! Johnny!" Roy desperately called his partner again and again, getting no response. _Damn it! _Roy called Stanley, and let him know what was going on. Then he turned to Harrison. "Let's get Marco out of here, then we can come back for our partners."

Harrison nodded and they lifted Lopez. So far they had been lucky and had escaped the falling debris. He just hoped the way out was clear. He didn't want to waste any time getting back to the others.

DeSoto and Harrison carried Marco outside and to a waiting ambulance. Squad 39 was there, getting ready to transport another injured fireman, and it was decided that they would handle the treatment on Lopez as well, so that Roy and Larry could get back inside.

They loaded Marco into the rear of the ambulance. Roy hesitated for a moment, torn between leaving his patient and going back in for the other three. Bill Bellingham, the paramedic who would be riding in with both patients, looked up a Roy, understanding his indecision.

"Don't worry, Roy, I'll take good care of him," he assured DeSoto.

Roy glanced at him and nodded, certain that Marco was in good hands. He closed the door and slapped it twice, signaling the driver that it was safe to leave.

Roy turned to Harrison, and they headed back into the building, DeSoto stopping long enough to replace his own, now empty, air tank.

Hank Stanley and Mike Stoker, the other two members of Station 51, joined them when they returned to the building. They quickly made their way back to the staircase, and started down to the sub-basement again. As they neared the bottom landing, they could hear someone cursing.

"Damn it! C'mon, Gage, pull!" Johnny was cursing at himself. As they turned the corner at the last landing, they saw Gage struggling with the stokes basket, trying to drag it through the door into the stairwell, over more debris laying on the floor.

As the men neared the bottom of the steps, Gage finally got the stokes through the door and turned back to the hallway. But DeSoto stopped him with a yell.

"Johnny!" Gage turned to see the other firefighters, whom he hadn't noticed coming down the steps. He was winded, trying to catch his breath. "Johnny, where's Mark?"

"In the hall," he began, starting back through the doorway. DeSoto grabbed his arm, shaking his head.

"We'll get him. Get out of here." Johnny nodded his head and followed Captain Stanley and Mike Stoker, who had lifted Kelly and started up the stairs with him.

DeSoto and Harrison entered the hall and found Wilson just a few feet away, still out cold. They quickly checked him over, then lifted him up, and Harrison draped him over a shoulder. They went through the door and headed up the stairs and out of the building.

Larry carried his partner over to a grassy spot on the other side of the parking lot and laid him down next to Kelly. Gage had removed his own air tank and turnout coat, and had begun getting vitals on Chet Kelly. As Roy lifted Mark's wrist to check his pulse, he glanced over as his partner, watching him as he took Chet's blood pressure.

"Johnny, you okay?" he asked, pulling his penlight from his pocket to look at Wilson's pupils.

"Yeah, fine," Gage told him as he reached for the biophone that Stoker had just brought over.

"What happened down there? I was talking to you and then.. nothing."

"The radio got knocked from my hand, then got smashed by a chunk of concrete."

"Did it hit you too? Are you hurt?"

"Hit my shoulder. I'm a little sore, but I don't think anything is broken. I'll have the docs check it when we get to Rampart."

Roy nodded at him, then turned his attention back to his patient as Wilson began moving around. He opened his eyes and looked around, blinking a couple of times to clear his vision.

DeSoto began asking him questions, to ascertain if he was aware of what happened to him. What day is it? Who's the president? What's your name? Wilson answered them all correctly, his partner smiling in relief. They would still take him in for the doctors to check him over, but at least he was awake and coherent.

As Johnny got instructions from Rampart, Roy readied an IV for Kelly. Several minutes later, the ambulance pulled up and both firefighters were loaded into it for the ride to the hospital. After securing the door, and watching it drive away, DeSoto turned to gather up his equipment. Stanley walked over to join him.

"How are they doing, Roy?" he asked, concerned.

"They should be fine, Cap. They're both conscious. Both have good vital signs. It looks like Chet broke an arm and leg, and possibly has some cracked ribs. And Mark is going to have one hell of a headache."

"Good. Good. What about Gage?"

"I think he's okay. He hurt his shoulder. The doctors can look at it when he gets to the hospital."

"Okay. We've been released, now that they have extra companies here. Since half of my crew is headed for the hospital, we'll be standing down until we get some replacements in. Stoker and I will meet up with you at the hospital."

"Right, Cap. I'll check with the doctors about Marco, so hopefully I'll have some info for you when you get there."

Stanley clapped him on the shoulder and nodded, then walked away toward the engine, to help Stoker gather up their gear.

/

Two hours later, the men were gathered in Marco and Chet's hospital room. Wilson was down the hall, with the other firefighter who had been injured. It seemed everyone was going to be okay. Marco had regained consciousness shortly after arriving at Rampart, and although he had a concussion, the doctors assured them it wasn't serious. They had placed a cast on Marco's leg and stitched up the cut on his head.

Chet also had a leg cast, but the x-rays showed that his arm wasn't broken, just badly bruised. He had breathed in small amounts of the toxic fumes, but treatment was quickly clearing up his breathing. Gage had his arm in a sling, having receiving a hard blow to the right shoulder.

Wilson had a concussion, and would be staying the night for observation. They had been very lucky. Things could have turned out much worse. Of course, now that everyone was safe and sound, Chet found the time to give Gage a hard time about dropping him when the ceiling started coming down again.

"Geez, Gage, I can't believe you dropped me. There I was, already injured, and you dropped me."

"I didn't drop you, Chet! The ceiling came down on us. Hell, I covered you with my own body so you wouldn't get hit again. You should be thanking me!" 

"Thanking you, for what? Do you realize that the trauma alone could have made my injuries worse?"

"Will you listen to this guy," Johnny commented. "We pull his butt out of there, risking our own necks to do, and he complains about _how_ we do it. Your lucky we didn't just figured you weren't worth the trouble, Kelly." Shaking his head, he continued. "You know, I should have just grabbed Wilson and left the building, let you find your own way out!"

"Johnny, Johnny, Johnny," Chet said, shaking his head.

"Don't start, Kelly. I was injured trying to save your life. And Wilson got himself knocked out on your behalf!"

DeSoto, Stanley and Stoker exchanged glances, used to these two arguing with each other. Stanley jerked his head toward the door, indicating to the others that they should leave. As they walked out the door, Marco called out to them.

"Wait, don't leave me here with them! Take me with you! Cap! Roy!" he yelled. "Please don't leave me. Stoker? Wait. What did I do to deserve this?"

Chet and Johnny continued to argue, not noticing that the others had left. Marco grimaced, and pulled the covers over his head. _Why me?_ he thought. _Why is it always me?_

THE END


End file.
